Legislature(2023 - 2024)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/27/2023 03:30 PM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Presentation Alaska Early Childhood Environmental Scan | |
| Presentation Childcare Then, Now, Next | |
| Presentation the State of Alaska's Children Alaska Kids Count Overview | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 27, 2023
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Löki Tobin, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Jesse Bjorkman
Senator Jesse Kiehl
Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION ALASKA EARLY CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
- HEARD
PRESENTATION CHILDCARE THEN~ NOW~ NEXT
- HEARD
PRESENTATION THE STATE OF ALASKA'S CHILDREN ALASKA KIDS COUNT
OVERVIEW
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
TAMAR BEN-YOSEF, Executive Director
All Alaska Pediatric Partnership
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the presentation Alaska Early
Childhood Environmental Scan.
STEPHANIE BERGLAND, Chief Executive Officer
Thread Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the presentation Childcare Then,
Now, Next.
TREVOR STORRS, Chief Executive Officer
Alaska Children's Trust
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided the Presentation The State of
Alaska's Children Alaska KIDS Count Overview.
JONATHAN KING, Consulting Economist
Halcyon Consulting
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions on The State of Alaska's
Children presentation.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:30:47 PM
CHAIR LÖKI TOBIN called the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present at the call to order were
Senators Kiehl, Gray-Jackson, Bjorkman, Stevens, and Chair
Tobin.
^PRESENTATION ALASKA EARLY CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
PRESENTATION
ALASKA EARLY CHILDHOOD ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
3:32:00 PM
CHAIR TOBIN announced the consideration of the presentation
Alaska Early Childhood Environmental Scan.
3:32:21 PM
TAMAR BEN-YOSEF, Executive Director, All Alaska Pediatric
Partnership, Anchorage, Alaska, said she would share information
from the Alaska Early Childhood Environmental Scan and
additional data from Help Me Grow to provide a more current view
of early childhood in Alaska.
3:33:24 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF turned to slide 2 and provided the mission
statement of the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership (A2P2) as
follows:
[Original punctuation provided.]
A2P2 transforms systems of care and increases
equitable access to health care and related services
to ensure all Alaska's children reach their full
potential.
3:33:41 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF said A2P2, at its inception, was a collaborative
space for Alaska's major hospitals and public health leaders to
share information and work towards solutions in pediatric health
services. However, to improve the health of Alaska's children,
the organization needed to expand into all areas that affect a
child's health and life course.
3:34:34 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF advanced to slide 4 and said the Alaska Early
Childhood Environmental Scan (AECES) was published in 2020,
before the Covid pandemic. The data in the scan is from 2018 and
can be used as a pre-pandemic baseline to evaluate against
current data. She said slides 4 and 5 now vary but are still
relevant to the status and landscape of Alaska's childhood
system.
MS. BEN-YOUSEF said the wheel graphic illustrates the components
that make up an early childhood system. The components are:
Governance and Leadership
Funding
Workforce and Professional Development
Quality Standards
Data Systems
Family Engagement and Outreach
States may have different names for the components but agree
that children with high-quality experiences early in life are
more likely to do better in school, be employed, and be healthy.
Three standard indicators evaluate the strength and
effectiveness of early childhood systems. They are Healthy Moms
and Children, Safe Children and Supported Families, and School
Readiness and Success. Each indicator reflects the variety of
experiences children are exposed to from inception. The goal of
the presentation is to encourage consistent consideration of the
education continuum as Birth - Grade 12 instead of PreK - 12.
Solutions that do not consider the first four years of a child's
life will be less effective.
3:37:27 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF turned to slide 5, Early Childhood Funding
Analysis, and said the dollar amounts are from 2018, but the
funding streams are mostly the same. The map represents a
preliminary look at reoccurring state and federal investments in
Alaska that directly target programs for young children and
pregnant or postpartum women. It does not include Medicaid or
child welfare. Twenty other states recognize that patchwork
childhood programs are less efficient and effective.
3:38:28 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF moved to slide 6 and said he took the remaining
slides from the Help Me Grow Alaska database. Help Me Grow is
the largest program at A2P2 and has a call center staffed by
family support specialists who share resources with anyone who
calls. The call center serves individuals who are prenatal to 26
years of age.
3:39:23 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF advanced to slide 7 and said the call center
hired three additional support specialists to meet the growing
needs of the call center. She provided the following call center
case information:
November 2022 100 cases opened
January 2023 139 cases opened
Last 30 Days 131 cases opened
Cases Year to Date 2,373 total cases
MS. BEN -YOUSEF said the square on the bottom left of the
graphic illustrates all cases by the primary reason for the
call. About 31 percent of calls are for mental health. She
stated that the call center has noticed an increase in calls
related to mental health. The call center works with families to
help them identify and prioritize concerns and needs. Fifteen
percent of calls are for communication-related referrals, for
example, speech therapy. Neuropsychological evaluation referrals
are the third most prominent reason for calls.
3:42:16 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF said slides 8-9 show the distribution of
referrals to services for children ages 0-7 over the last four
years. There was a high need for adaptive, communication, and
behavioral services in 2020. She said she inserted the wrong
information for 2021, but the trend continued. In 2022 and 2023,
adaptive, communication, and behavioral needs continued to be
high, but there was also an increase in neuropsychological
evaluations, mental health services, health, and gross motor
skills. Slides 8 - 9 illustrate the importance of looking at
children and their development before they are school-age. A
child's early years impact their third-grade readiness and
general trajectory in life.
3:44:40 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF moved to slide 10 and said the bar graph shows a
distribution of community resources by type and borough. The
call center's statewide directory has over 1,800 resources. It
is a comprehensive directory with a vetting process. Anchorage
and Mat-Su have the most resources. She said it is important to
consider the resources available to communities statewide when
looking at solutions for early childhood issues.
^PRESENTATION CHILDCARE THEN, NOW, NEXT
PRESENTATION CHILDCARE THEN, NOW, NEXT
3:46:55 PM
CHAIR TOBIN announced the consideration of the presentation
Childcare Then, Now, Next.
3:47:22 PM
STEPHANIE BERGLAND, Chief Executive Officer, Thread Alaska,
Anchorage, Alaska, began at slide 2 and said Thread is a private
non-profit childcare resource and referral organization formed
38 years ago. It promotes quality early childhood education with
a specific focus on childcare. She provided the vision, mission,
and core values of the Thread organization as follows:
[Original punctuation provided.]
VISION
All early care & learning is accessible, affordable,
high-quality to support positive outcomes for children
& families.
MISSION
Advance the quality of early education and child
development by empowering parents, educating child
care professionals, and collaborating with our
communities.
CORE VALUES
Empowerment Access Children's Rights
Child Care Professionalism Innovation
3:48:31 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 3 and spoke about the direct
services Thread provides:
[Original punctuation provided.]
FAMILIES
• Child Care Referrals
• Tools & resources
• Parenting information
EARLY EDUCATORS & PROGRAMS
• Training
• Technical assistance
• Financial support
• Alaska SEED
• Learn & Grow
COMMUNITY/ BUSINESS
• Workplace presentation, consultation
• Research & data, trends
• Advocacy
3:50:10 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 4 and said the three pillars needed
for a strong childhood sector are access, affordability, and
quality. She stated that the presentation would impart
information on the three pillars from the perspectives of then,
now, and next.
3:50:31 PM
MS. BERGLAND turned to slide 5 and said Thread conducted the
most recent early care and learning economic impact report in
2020. The report shows that childcare has had many challenges,
such as:
• Families reported that difficulty accessing services had
increased since 2015, making getting to work, school, and
training more difficult.
• The lack of childcare in Alaska inhibited 1 in 5 working
families from participating in the workforce and accepting
additional work hours.
• There is roughly half of the licensed and regulated spaces
needed to meet the childcare demands of families.
3:51:26 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 6 and said 61 percent of the state
needs childcare access. The crisis is called a desert, which she
defined as an area with more than 50 children younger than five
that either has no providers or so few options that the children
outnumber providers 3 to 1.
3:51:44 PM
MS. BERGLAND advanced to slide 7 and said affordability is also
a problem. In 2019, 17 percent of a family's household income
went to childcare. The percentage is higher for single parents.
The average childcare payment for families with two children was
the family's largest expense and exceeded the cost of housing
for most. The price of childcare in 2020 averaged almost $12,000
for infants and $11,000 for preschool children annually.
Childcare in Alaska costs more than college tuition and is an
expense that generally comes at the start of parents' earning
potential.
3:52:32 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 8 and stated that while parents
cannot afford to pay more for childcare, childcare businesses
barely make ends meet when they rely solely on family tuition.
Businesses that need more revenue to cover the cost of quality
care often face cutting personnel because it is the business's
most expensive line item. In turn, laying off personnel affects
quality care. Early childhood educators receive low wages, which
affects skill level and turnover. Slide 8 provided the following
information:
[Original punctuation provided.]
• Average annual wage in childcare: $26,720 (40 percent
of the average statewide annual wage)
• Turnover is approximately 46 percent
• Programs spend 70 percent of budget on personnel
• 10 percent of early childhood teachers have above a
high school diploma
3:53:14 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 9 and said programs want to pay
teachers more but cannot because of the current business model.
Parents shoulder most of the cost of childcare. More public and
private investment is needed:
[Original punctuation provided.]
$223 million Household
$84 million Federal Government
$36 million State Government
$? million Local Government
$? Private Sector
Alaska's early care and learning sector accounts for
$343 million + in annual spending.
Note: This estimate of spending is conservative as it
does not account for investment by local government,
including school districts, and the private sector.
3:53:32 PM
MS. BERGLAND turned to slide 10 and said childcare was in crisis
before the Covid pandemic but has become more fragile over the
last three years. Many programs served fewer children during the
pandemic and were mitigating Covid, which can still cause multi-
day closures. Thread has been monitoring the demand for
childcare and how trends affect supply needs. During Covid,
there was a shift in families leaving employment or having
reduced hours, which made childcare more unaffordable. Thread
hears from families almost daily because they cannot find
childcare. Some providers have closed, and others cannot serve
fully due to staff shortages. While families struggle to afford
childcare, childcare prices have exceeded inflation for a third
consecutive year.
3:54:39 PM
MS. BERGLAND turned to slide 11 and said 1 out of 5 childcare
programs have closed over the last three years. New programs
have opened, but not at the same pre-Covid rate. The new
openings do not offset the number of closures, which results in
a net loss of available childcare. Most of the current 431
licensed childcare providers are open but cannot serve more
children due to a workforce shortage. The number one indicator
of quality education is the teacher. It is the same for early
childhood education. Teachers are exhausted and burned out.
According to a December study by the National Association for
the Education of Young Children of childcare programs surveyed
in Alaska, over 88 percent indicated that burnout and exhaustion
contribute to problems retaining their teachers. Burnout and low
pay lead to teacher stress, resulting in high turnover and low
continuity of care for young children.
3:55:52 PM
MS. BERGLAND slide 12 and stated that with reduced access to
childcare, there is slower economic growth for the state now and
in the long term. A reduced labor force with slow economic
growth is bad for all Alaskans. In 2021, the state chamber and
Thread conducted a US Chamber of Commerce survey to better
understand the intersection of business and childcare. Seventy-
seven percent of parents surveyed over three months reported
missing work due to childcare issues. Thirty-six percent of
families are postponing higher education and training due to the
lack of childcare. Interruptions at work lead to a loss of
productivity and a lower sense of job satisfaction. Stopping or
delaying higher education decreases a person's earning potential
over time. Ultimately, the study found that Alaska's economy has
an untapped potential due to the inability to meet family
childcare needs. Childcare issues result in an estimated $165
million loss for Alaska's economy annually.
3:57:11 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 13 and said Thread has proudly
partnered with the Alaska Department of Health's Child Program
Office and philanthropy partners to deliver childcare
stabilization grants. Since 2020, over $50 million has been
awarded to childcare programs and early education since 2020
through federal funding and philanthropy. Most of the funding
was from Covid relief funds earmarked for childcare. These
resources were critical in keeping childcare services open
statewide. However, the childcare supply crisis continues, and
childcare is unaffordable for many Alaskans. Federal aid will
soon sunset, and Thread is concerned about the childcare sector.
3:58:16 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 14 and said there is only
opportunity to support childcare. Thread invites the legislature
to seek bold policies to help working families and early
education programs that strengthen education overall.
3:58:36 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 15 and said childcare is the
starting sector of a child's education pipeline. Yet, it is
underfunded and needs more public investment. The first five
years of a child's life is when the brain develops the fastest,
and key social, emotional, and academic skills necessary for
kindergarten and positive educational outcomes are learned.
High-quality early learning programs are crucial in setting
children up for success in school, college, training, and
beyond. The quality of childcare also matters when looking at
the cost of PreK-12 education and how everyone can support
children doing better in school. Only 33 percent of Alaska's
children are prepared to enter Kindergarten. Strengthening the
childcare system is part of an education solution. Investing in
early childcare creates savings from reduced grade retention and
costs associated with special education and remedial education
services.
3:59:45 PM
MS. BERGLAND turned to slide 17 and said Thread aims to align
the early childhood education system and support families and
quality care through a mixed delivery system. A mixed delivery
system means serving more children and offering families more
early care and education choices by aligning birth through
kindergarten standards, programs, funding, and policies. A mixed
delivery model ensures that more children receive high-quality
care regardless of setting. Thread sees great potential to align
childcare with the greater education system, including the
Alaska Reads Act.
4:00:27 PM
MS. BERGLAND moved to slide 17 and said early childcare is
complex. Federal funding earmarked through Covid was impactful,
but it is ending. She spoke about the following needs of early
childcare:
[Original punctuation provided.]
• Targeted investment to keep early care and education
system stable
• Recognize the early childhood workforce and invest in
them as professionals with livable wages/benefits
• Support working families with:
Affordable access to care
Choices for care and education
• Ensure policies and programs support mixed delivery
and alignment of early childhood programs
4:03:47 PM
At ease.
^PRESENTATION THE STATE OF ALASKA'S CHILDREN ALASKA KIDS COUNT
OVERVIEW
PRESENTATION
THE STATE OF ALASKA'S CHILDREN ALASKA KIDS COUNT OVERVIEW
4:04:13 PM
CHAIR TOBIN reconvened the meeting and announced the
consideration of the presentation The State of Alaska's Children
Alaska KIDS Count Overview.
4:04:34 PM
TREVOR STORRS, Chief Executive Officer, Alaska Children's Trust,
Anchorage, Alaska, said Alaska Children's Trust (ACT) is the
statewide lead organization focused on preventing child abuse
and neglect. It is also the state affiliate for KIDS COUNT, a
national Annie E. Casey Foundation program. The presentation
will discuss key data points relevant to discussions happening
in Alaskan communities and the legislature. ACT partners with
the Alaska Department of Health, section of Epidemiology. This
section maintains and shares information from its centralized
database. KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state effort to
track the well-being of children, youth, and families. The
organization focuses on education, health, economic well-being,
and family and community. The data KIDS COUNT collects is used
to answer the question, "How are Alaska's children doing?"
4:06:45 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 3 and said Alaska ranks 41st in the
nation for overall child well-being, up from 45th in 2019 but
down from 27th in 2015. Alaska continually ranks in the bottom
half, if not the bottom third, for overall well-being
nationally. Four predetermined indicators decide the ranking.
4:08:03 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 4 and said the presentation would
view children holistically and not just from an educational
standpoint because when kids are thriving, they will succeed in
education. Alaska has ranked 49th in Education for three
consecutive years. He opined that while some people view the low
ranking as a reason to cut funding, that is not what the data is
about. The data indicates there needs to be more investment in
education. "When you are choking somebody, it is not a surprise
that they don't get a full breath."
4:09:00 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 5 and said Alaska had progressed in
two of the four core indicators in the past decade. Young
children not in school and high school students not graduating
on time have decreased. However, 4th-grade reading, and 8th-
grade math proficiency has worsened.
4:09:37 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 6 and said it is important to
celebrate success. Alaska has made significant progress in
reducing the percentage of high school students not graduating
on time. This percentage declined from 29 percent in 2013 - 2014
to 20 percent in 2018 - 2019. The improvement is partially
attributed to programs like Anchorage's "90 by 2020" initiative.
This program increased the number of students graduating from
high school on time from 60 percent to 84 percent from 2005 to
2019.
4:10:47 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slides 7 - 8 and said children need a good
start in life. Statewide, only 31 percent of kindergarteners
were school-ready. The percentage was two percent lower in 2018
-2019 and 2021 - 2022. This increase is significant when
considering the reading and math proficiency indicators. Only
one-third of 4th-graders are proficient in reading and math. He
opined that there is a correlation. When children enter
kindergarten and are not ready, it impacts future learning.
4:12:05 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 9 and said developmental screening
also impacts student performance. Overall, the percentage of
three-year-olds receiving developmental screens in Alaska saw a
mild increase from 77 to 79 percent. However, numbers vary
widely across racial/ethnic groups and geographically, with
screens in northern and southwest regions far below the state
average, at 57 percent and 42 percent, respectively. The
category Alaska Native is low due to southwest variation. People
would see correlations if they drilled down into the data and
compared kindergarten readiness, reading, math, and
developmental screenings. The Alaska Children's Trust (ACT)
wants upstream investment, and developmental screening is needed
for it to occur. Educational budgets show that special education
constantly increases. It is one of the most costly aspects of
school districts. Part of the reason for the increase is a lack
of developmental screenings to catch challenges early.
4:13:35 PM
CHAIR TOBIN asked him to describe developmental screening.
MR. STORRS replied that developmental screenings occur over
three years. Doctors meet with children, ask parents questions,
and note benchmarks. A2P2 is familiar with screening and
tracking. Screening reveals where a child is developmentally,
alerts parents to any delays a child may have, and refers them
to Help Me Grow.
4:14:26 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slides 10-11 and said Alaska ranks 44th
nationwide in the health category. The four core indicators that
determine the ranking are:
• Low Birth Weight Babies
• Children Without Health Insurance
• Child and Teen Deaths per 100,000
• Children Who Are Overweight or Obese
Over the past decade, the only indicator that improved was
Children Without Health Insurance. Alaska is 5th in the nation
for Children Without Insurance. It was not long ago that Alaska
was last. Mr. Storrs stated that even though Alaska is doing
worse, it does not mean Alaska is doing poorly overall. Alaska
experienced an increase in the Low Birth Weight Babies
indicator, which is still better than the national average.
Through a partnership with the Department of Health, ACT knows
Alaska is one of the top states recognized for addressing low
birth rates. However, conversations and corrections begin when
there is a slip in numbers.
4:16:07 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked why Alaska is the worst for Child and Teen
Deaths in the nation.
MR. STORRS answered that he did not prepare data to answer the
question, but suicide is a factor. The Child and Teen Deaths
indicator is a broad conversation he will touch on when
discussing suicide.
4:17:31 PM
CHAIR TOBIN said Ms. Ben-Yousef had a comment.
4:17:39 PM
MS. BEN-YOUSEF said development screening is a standardized set
of questions about a child's abilities, including language,
movement, thinking, behavior, and emotions. A2P2 recommends
screening children at 9, 18, 24 - 30 months, or whenever a
caregiver is concerned. She stressed that developmental
screening is for monitoring children, not diagnosing.
Understanding child development is considered a protective
factor to help parents engage with their children in
developmentally appropriate ways. It is also a way to achieve
early identification of developmental concerns or delays over
time.
4:19:23 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 12 and said an area of health often
talked about in Alaska is teen alcohol and drug misuse. Since
2009, Alaska has made notable progress in reducing the
"portions" of teens drinking alcohol, binge drinking, and using
tobacco. In recent years, teen alcohol and drug misuse has
largely flattened, except for tobacco smoking, which continues
to decline. The newest issue facing teens is vaping. Only two
regions of Alaska have data available from 2019. In Anchorage,
vaping increased from 18 to 25 percent. Mat-Su rose from 17 to
32 percent. The ACT recommends implementing similar utilization
strategies for alcohol and tobacco to address vaping. He opined
that manufacturers should make substances less attractive to
children and that products should be taxed.
MR. STORRS moved to slide 13 and said child maltreatment cases
have increased to levels not seen since 2009. In 2020, there
were 3,190 confirmed cases of child maltreatment in Alaska.
While there may be a drop in cases following the Covid pandemic,
ACT suspects there is still a lot of child abuse and neglect
occurring. Alaska should look for the social determinants that
impact families to learn what it is doing wrong.
4:22:04 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 14, a graphic that depicts the
percentage by age group of children maltreated from 2016 to
2020, as confirmed by Child Protective Services. He said just
over 40 percent of cases are between 0 and 4 years of age. One
of the most incredibly stressful times for adults is being a new
parent due to the high dependence of children from ages 0 - 4
years old. Most people start families in their early 20s,
generally when they have the least earnings and the highest
stress for spending.
4:22:55 PM
MR. STORRS asked whether there were any questions.
SENATOR STEVENS asked for specifics about the shift in the age
of adults becoming parents.
MR. STORRS replied that he did not have the statistics on
people's age when having children. He said education,
socioeconomics, and access to family planning services play a
role. A high percentage of children are born to parents ages 18
- 25 years old. He will provide the data to the committee.
4:24:23 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 16 and said the four economic
indicators for well-being are:
• Children in Poverty
• Children Whose Parents Lack Secure Employment
• Children Living in Households with a High Housing Cost
Burden
• Teens Not in School and Not Working
Alaska is 44th nationally for Economic Well-Being. Although
Alaska improved in three areas, other states improved more.
Teens Not in School and Not Working increased.
4:25:02 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 17 and said children growing up in
poverty is a major barrier to healthy child development and
increases the likelihood of poor academics, cognitive, and
health outcomes. The federal poverty level is a threshold for
the least income a person or family needs to meet their basic
needs. In 2021, the Alaska poverty threshold for a family of
four was just over $33,000. In 2022, it was $34,700. The
percentage of children in poverty decreased from 16 percent in
2014 to 12 percent in 2021. Alaska is consistently under the
national average; it is one area that Alaska is doing well.
4:26:11 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 18 and said the cost of housing is
important to consider since people with young children are
generally at the start of their careers and earning potential.
Housing is the largest household expense. The federal government
defines the housing cost burden as more than 30 percent of a
family's monthly income spent on rent, mortgage payments, taxes,
insurance, and related expenses. In Alaska since 2009, this is a
variable within the percentage of Children Living in Households
with a High Housing Cost Burden that fluctuates between one-
quarter and one-third.
MR. STORRS said that in 2021, 30 percent of Alaska's children
lived in a household burdened by high housing costs, up from 25
percent two years ago but holding steady from 2019 and
comparable to rates seen over the prior decade. The 2019 high
housing cost burden rate of 57 percent for children in low-
income households is within the ten-year range of 51 percent to
64 percent. In short, while a smaller proportion of children
live in homes with high housing cost burdens, this trend does
not seem to extend to low-income households. Life is like an
elastic band that snaps when too much stress from a lack of
knowledge, skills, and resources is placed on it. The breaking
point is when children are at risk of child abuse, neglect,
death, and suicide. The work of everyone is to help prevent or
lessen stress.
4:28:48 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 19 and said another basic need is food
insecurity. It is an issue the state has discussed a lot due to
problems with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP). Children in food-insecure households experience poorer
health, increased hospitalizations, higher developmental risks,
and more behavior problems. All these factors contribute to
lower educational performance. In Alaska, 11 percent of children
lived in homes that experienced food insecurity at some point
between 2019 - 2021. It is a vast improvement compared to 2009 -
2011. Federal aid during the Covid pandemic likely helped lower
food insecurity in 2020. The state rate for food insecurity has
been dropping since 2015. ACT is concerned about the problems
SNAP experienced and expects a spike in homes that experience
food insecurity if the Department of Health does not address
issues with SNAP.
4:30:14 PM
CHAIR TOBIN said she knows that in Anchorage, a living wage is
about $64,000 for a family of four living in a two-bedroom
house. However, the poverty threshold for a family of four in
Alaska is $34,000. She asked how the state handles the
difference in income so people can access assistance.
4:30:54 PM
MR. STORRS replied that earning a living wage is the target to
avoid stressors. A person who earns $65,000 is not in poverty.
Wealth allows people better access to the knowledge, skills,
support, and resources to deal with stressors. If a person earns
$65,000, they can afford to see a doctor, understand the system
and how to access it, and can afford educational attainment. The
person can build their ability and wealth and attend parenting
classes. A person working two jobs does not have time to think
about how to be the best parent possible. Money allows people to
reduce stressors.
4:32:22 PM
JONATHAN KING, Consulting Economist, Halcyon Consulting,
Anchorage, Alaska, said there is a big difference between not
being in poverty and earning a living wage. A living wage is
when a person can afford a two-bedroom apartment, food without
assistance, and transportation, which differs from living at the
federal poverty level. A gap exists between earning a living
wage and the federal poverty level. People may not be in
poverty, but that does not mean they can comfortably make ends
meet or save for emergencies.
4:33:06 PM
CHAIR TOBIN asked him to name social determinants besides
housing.
4:33:19 PM
MR. STORRS replied that other social determinants are access to
food, childcare, health care, developmental screenings, and
education. There are a vast number of social determinants.
4:33:56 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 20 and said Alaska ranked 22nd in
Family and Community. Alaska scores well in this category. It
takes a parent to raise a child and a community to uplift and
support parents. The four core indicators for Family and
Community are:
• Children in Single-Parent Families
• Children in Families Where the Household Head Lacks a High
School Diploma
• Children Living in High-Poverty Areas
• Teen Births Per 1,000
Alaska has improved in three of the four areas. Children Living
in High-Poverty Areas grew worse by 4 percent from 2009-2013 to
2016-2020.
4:34:24 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 21, Teen Births, and said he likes to
begin positively and celebrate. Alaska has made great strides in
reducing teen births. Teen birth rates have fallen from 38
births per 1,000 in 2010 to 18 per 1,000 in 2020, a decline of
53 percent over 11 years. Alaska narrowed the gap between the
state and national teen birth rates but remained 20 percent
higher than the national rate in 2020. Teenage childbearing can
have long-term adverse effects for both the mother and child.
Babies born to teens are far more likely to be born preterm and
at a low birth weight. They will also likely be born into
families with limited educational attainment and economic
resources, undermining their future success. The rate of teen
births is the number of births to females between ages 15 - 19
per 1,000.
4:34:44 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 22 and said teen birth rates have
fallen in every region of Alaska over the last decade. However,
the regional variation in rates is extraordinary. From 2016 -
2020, the rate in the region with the highest teen birth rate
was 460 percent higher than in the region with the lowest. The
Anchorage, Southeast, Gulf Coast, and Mat-Su regions all had
teen birth rates below the statewide average. The Interior
region was 12 percent higher than the statewide average. The
rates for the Southwest and Northern regions are 225 percent and
250 percent higher than the statewide average. Breaking down
teen births by regions illustrates the importance of evaluating
data to understand better what is happening and where the state
should focus energy and resources.
4:37:16 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 24 and said child maltreatment can
lead to children in foster care. In 2020, 16 out of every 1,000
Alaska children were in foster care. This rate is 220 percent
higher than the national rate of 5 children per 1,000. The rate
in Alaska has increased 60 percent over the past decade from 10
per 1,000. Alaska has a huge issue that correlates with a major
increase in child maltreatment. He opined that conversations
about support, resources, and economic well-being must occur to
effect change.
4:38:21 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 25 and said American Indian, Alaska
Native, non-Hispanic White, and children from multiple ethnic
groups comprise 89 percent of Alaska's foster care population.
Native Alaska and American Indian children comprise 47 percent
of all children in foster care; this is a reduction of 10
percent over the last decade. He said ACT would like to explore
the reason for the reduction. He noted that the number of foster
care children from multiple ethnic backgrounds has more than
doubled; he expects some of this population identified as Alaska
Native and another race. A lot of energy has gone into providing
community support. Thoughts and ideas, like child welfare
compacting, will transform the statistics.
4:39:37 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 26 and said afterschool programs can
support social, emotional, cognitive, and academic development.
Afterschool programs are part of the upstream work to transform
statistics. From 2009 to 2019, over half of Alaska high school
students participated in afterschool activities, totaling 57
percent in 2019. Almost one-third participated in activities
three or more days per week in 2017. There is no data available
for 2019. These proportions have remained largely stable over
the last decade. Alaska's youth are future adults and parents.
Giving them knowledge, skills, support, and resources at a young
age strengthens them as adults and lessens stress when they
become parents.
4:40:53 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slides 27 - 28 and said residents are aware
of the high teen suicide rate in Alaska. Conversations about
teen suicide are difficult. The suicide of a loved one or friend
is a devastating traumatic event accompanied by feelings of
shock, anger, confusion, and depression. Individuals exposed to
suicide have double the lifetime risk of depression and anxiety
compared to those who have never been exposed to suicide.
Alaska's teen suicide rate increased from 24 per 100,000 in 2008
- 2012 to 36 per 100,000 in 2016 -2020. He stated that looking
at the data by region increases understanding. Rates vary by
region. There is a 747 percent difference between the regions
with the highest and lowest rates. Overall rates in Alaska range
from a high of 161 per 100,000 in southwest Alaska in 2016-2020
and 150 per 100,000 in the northern region to a low of 19 per
100,000 in Anchorage. This data tells us where suicides happen
and where to focus attention.
4:42:31 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 29 and said that in 2019, 22 percent
of Alaska high school students planned a suicide attempt in the
past 12 months. This portion includes 27 percent of females and
16 percent of males. Over the last decade, planning rates for
males increased 100 percent and for females 80 percent. Alaska
needs to give attention to the issue. He opined that social
media and isolation play a part in the increase, but Alaska
needs to see that the data points discussed in the presentation
are connected and add stress to a child's life. Suicide
prevention needs to occur upstream.
4:44:10 PM
MR. STORRS turned to slide 30 and said that in 2019, the portion
of high school students who planned a suicide attempt was
highest for American Indian and Alaska Native students, which
correlates to them also being the group that experiences the
highest poverty, and has the least access to knowledge, skills,
and resources. He stated Alaska needs to figure out how to
support these students. Alaska Native students were 24 percent
of high school students who planned a suicide attempt in 2019,
followed by white students at 20 percent and Hispanic or Latino
students at 18 percent. He stated that the portion of students
who reported planning a suicide attempt increased among each
racial/ethnic group since 2009.
4:45:07 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 31 and said before people reach the
point of suicide, they have feelings of sadness and
hopelessness, which is a broad mental health gauge. It measures
the proportion of high school students who felt sad or hopeless
almost every day for two or more weeks, so much so that they
stopped doing some usual activities. In the last decade, the
proportion of Alaska high school students feeling sad and
hopeless has increased 52 percent, with a growing racial/ethnic
disparity. He stated he is aware that a legislative bill focuses
on talking to students about mental illness. He opined that more
needs to be done. The Mental Health Trust has been looking at
how to get funding to schools for counselors. The Hospital
Association has done an analysis to address reducing suicide.
Groups must be brought together to devise and fund a plan to
reduce suicides.
4:46:44 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 32 and said caring adults are critical
to the healthy development of youth. Parental caring is always
the first choice, but grandparents, teachers, neighbors,
coaches, faith leaders, or mentors can assume the role of a
caring adult. In Alaska, the two primary measures of whether
children feel they have a caring adult around them or whether
students feel they have a teacher who cares about them are if
they have three or more adults, other than parents, from whom
they are comfortable seeking help. In 2019, 6 out of 10 Alaska
high schoolers reported feeling their teachers care about and
encourage them, the same portion that reported this feeling in
2009. In 2019, 49 percent of high school students said they had
three or more adults other than their parents whom they would
feel comfortable going to for help.
4:49:24 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 33 and said teachers are essential not
only for the subjects they teach but also as a caring adult.
Connectivity with students occurs when a teacher stays at a
school for 2 - 5 years. Teachers who perceive their job does not
invest in them leave rather than invest in the community. When
students feel sad and hopeless and do not have adults to speak
with, they move closer to the edge of suicide. The base student
allocation is an important conversation regarding the role of
schools. He opined that the bond between teachers and students
is phenomenal. Many people can recall teachers that positively
impacted their lives. He said that caring adult/teacher data,
when broken down by region, shows the portion of students
reporting they feel their teachers care about and encourage them
was highest in the northern region, at 67 percent, and southeast
region at 66 percent, and lowest in the Interior at 58 percent.
He opined that if the state can increase the percentages, a
ripple effect would occur to increase other data he discussed.
4:50:08 PM
SENATOR STEVENS said it is interesting that the southwest region
has low percentages on other charts in the presentation, such as
suicide and teen pregnancy. However, for caring adult/teachers
the percentage for the region is 65 percent. He asked whether
the percentage was accurate.
4:50:22 PM
MR. STORRS replied yes that it was a great surprise. He stated
he does not know why there is such a strong connection. He
opined that having a supportive teacher is a great protective
factor, but so many other strains are placed on the students
that they still snap.
4:51:01 PM
MR. KING said he supposes teachers are more important to rural
than urban communities because students interact with fewer
adults.
4:52:07 PM
MR. STORRS said that regarding a previous question from Senator
Stevens, teen deaths are driven by accidents, homicides, and
suicides. The data is not broken down by category. However,
suicide numbers are probably much higher than homicides and
accidents. The rate per 100,000 is 45 nationwide and 80 in
Alaska. He opined that suicide adds to the difference.
4:52:54 PM
MR. STORRS moved to slide 34 and said the indicators discussed
are only a handful of the child wellness indicators available
through the Alaska KIDS Count data books. The information is
also available on the KIDS Count website. He opined that when
the well-being of Alaska's children increases, society's long-
term costs decrease. Alaska needs to invest in children early to
have a sustainable budget. As leaders debate the future of our
state, ACT is devoted to supporting informed policy decisions
and ensuring children are at the center of the conversation. He
stated he would like a commission focused on the future of
Alaska's children rather than discussions about money. Alaska
needs to talk about the future and then figure out how to invest
in it as a team.
4:55:27 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Tobin adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
meeting at 4:55 p.m.